Chapter CXLVII: First One to the Drakoni Wins ~Naaro

(NOTE: As you may notice by reading, this chapter starts before Havering’s incantation begins. By the time Rynn and I get back, we’ll be running parallel in time with the latest chapter…at least I hope.)

Naaro sat down on one of the Spectrum’s comfortable seats and let out a long, relaxing sigh. He hadn't had a chance to relax in a while, and he also hadn’t been on the Spectrum in a while. He let out a yawn and decided that now was a time for a good nap. He laid his head back, closed his eyes, and began to doze. It was then that Havering gave him a glance as he walked by, heading to the main chamber to begin his incantation. He smirked, and used a tiny bit of magik to snap Naaro out of his slumber. Naaro’s eyes flew open, and he saw the phantom form of Havering before him.

“Gah…what are you doing here?” Naaro asked, a bit irritated with the Twilighter.

Havering simply chuckled, and went on.

Naaro shook his head with disapproval. Kenzo then came through the door, eyes on Havering due to a vicious glare the Twilighter had given him, and stopped. He turned back to Naaro. “Hey, you’re the one married to Rynn, right?” he asked.

Naaro gave a nod, adding, “Yup, that’s me.” Kenzo then said, “Well, she sent out a distress call.”

Naaro jumped up. “Where is she?!”

Kenzo’s eyes widened with surprise, and he put his hands forth, crying, “Easy, easy!”

Naaro nodded and calmed, and Kenzo told him what he wanted to know. “She’s on Yoshin.”

Naaro gave a quick nod. *I should get down there…if Havering’s spirit is here, then that means she’s not possessed anymore!* Naaro smiled and headed into the main chamber, Kenzo ahead of him.

He took a position by C.R., and asked, “Excuse me, C.R…I need to get to Yoshin. Think you could help me out?”

C.R. looked at Naaro, and scoffed, “Haven’t you been off adventuring enough already?”

“Rynn’s on Yoshin, I’m gonna go get her,” he explained.

C.R. gave a nod, and told Naaro about a newly-created space-cruiser waiting outside for him. Naaro thanked the Rip Watcher, and headed for the door to make his exit. As he did, he caught sight of Havering beginning his incantation. For some reason, thoughts of the green Twilighter on Medghelica entered his head. He’d seemed a lot like Multehx…*But nah,* he thought, “why would Tehx and Havering work together? They’re enemies!*

He then entered the cruiser through the door-link and took off, heading for Yoshin.

“Can anyone hear me? Can anyone tell me where you guys are?” … “Can anyone hear me? Can anyone tell me where you guys are?” … “Can anyone hear me? Can anyone tell me where you guys are?” …“Can anyone hear me? Can anyone tell me where you guys are?” …the message reverberated throughout the dark chamber.

Luminescent screens covered the walls, but no light reached the figure sitting in the middle of the chamber. Outside, three0 Man’daca warships prepared for battle, each carrying hundreds of Yautja Warriors thirsting for their next conquest. Chattering and clicking filled these ships as the eager Yautja awaited their master’s signal to attack. Within the chamber, H'dlak, the master of this Jag'd'ja Atoll (mothership), growled his laughter. His name was the Yautja word for “fear”, and he deserved it well. He was a member of the Ancient caste, the greatest of all Yautja warriors. He had survived countless battles and hunts, and had to seal off an entire bloc of his mothership for all the trophies he had. And now he was again to bring honor upon himself with the conquest of this planet, full of the race that his people called “O’shiz”. He then rose from his chair, and left his chamber, adorned in a robe made of Pifc-nah' fur and a chain mail of Ooman bones.

He then spoke to his legions. “Dtai'k-dte sa-de nav'g-kon dtain'aun bpide!” he shouted, speaking an old proverb of the Yautja: “The fight begun would not end until the end.”

The Yautja below chattered in regard of their great master, thrusting their weapons into the air. H’dlak looked down upon his troops with joy…any that died would die only to elevate his honor, for honor, above all else, was the concern of a Yautja. He then spoke again.

“M-di H'chak, M-di H'dlak!” These words declared: “No mercy, no fear!”

The Yautja soldiers clicked their mandibles together and chattered noisily, indicating their respect for their master and eagerness to slaughter.

The Yautja then spoke his final words: “Payas Leitjin-de! Thin-de le'hasuan 'aloun'myin-del bpi-de gka-de hasou-de paya!” His words: “Remember God’s practice! Learn the gifts of all sights, or finish in the dance of the fallen gods!”

With this, he thrust his spear made from a Xenomorph’s spine into the air and roared. The Yautja returned H’dlak’s roar with their own, and scrambled into the hulls of their ships. H’dlak’s personal Ner’uda, shuttle, pulled up to his platform, and he entered. All three0 Man’dacas flew forth into space, and the green planet of Yoshin came into view.

From the Man’dacas, thousands of Ner’uda poured forth and headed toward Yoshin. The conquest of other planets was another part of the Yautjas’ great quest: the Hunt. Yautja Warriors would pour across a planet and destroy many in their attack, then pull back. Within a few hours, their main weapon would be hatched and ready: the Xenomorph, or kiande amedha to the Yautja. They were the ultimate prey, as Ellen Ripley and the crew of the Sulaco had seen in their encounter with one of the beasts. The Yautja would sow the seeds of destruction by placing thousands of Xenomorph eggs on the planet they were going to make their newest hunting ground, let the beasts destroy the remainder of the civilization inhabiting the planet, then begin the Hunt on the freshly-acquired planet. Yoshin was to be the next victim. The Yoshinians didn’t have a chance. The technology of the Yautja was far superior to any seen before by them, and that technology included being completely undetectable. If only they knew how great a terror was knocking on their door…

Rynn sat in her Gundam, letting Kai press the buttons on the many panels within.

“Kaikai, are you having fun?” she asked him.

Kai nodded, slapping buttons. Suddenly Rynn held her ears as a high pitch wail rung through the cockpit.

"ARRRRRRGGGHHHH!!" she screamed, hitting a few buttons.

The source of the wail promptly silenced. Rynn then turned her head at the sound of an explosion outside the cave.

“What the…?” she muttered with a bit of surprise, trailing off at the end.

She got Kai, stepped out of the cockpit, and made her exit from the cave. She looked around for the source of the explosion, her eyes peering into the far horizons. What she saw brought terror into her eyes. Fireballs rained from the sky, slamming into the planet. She ran back into the cave to protect Kai, wanting to protect herself as well. It was then that one of the fireballs crashed into the ground near the cave. Rynn screamed, and Kai wailed in a terrified panic. As dirt and dust sprayed into the air, Rynn covered the screaming Kai. After several seconds, she rose up again, and looked over at the object that had fallen from the sky. It was a whitish, smooth-surfaced ship resembling a bug or a futuristic hovercraft. She looked at it in awe. That awe, however, was quickly shattered as a door on the side of the shuttle opened, and out came three Yautja Hunters, the warriors of their race. Rynn gasped, and went to find a place to hide, hoping that the beasts wouldn’t find her. She knew what was going on…Yoshin was being invaded (again).

Naaro pushed the cruiser to its limit. He was within visual sight of Yoshin, and also within visual sight of the fleet in space above it. He could recognize the ships even from his distance: they were Yautja ships.

*I need to get Rynn out of there, now…* he thought to himself worriedly, keeping the cruiser’s speed up.

He had to hurry…those Yautja were deadly to those unfamiliar with their ways, and Rynn was one of those unfamiliars. He began to come near the planet’s atmosphere when laser fire struck the side of his craft. He cursed his luck as the Man’daca that fired at him deployed three of the Yautja Setg’-in (“deadly and quick”) interceptors, which resembled three metallic talons connected at the back by a translucent blue globe that contained the pilot, each of the talons with a dual laser cannon at its tip. He groaned, and began trying to dodge the fighters as they fired at him, searching for the cruiser’s weapons (and hoping it had some) at the same time.

The three Yautja Hunters outside Rynn’s cave looked about their surroundings. All of them seemed to be scanning the area for something, or someone. One of the three suddenly rumbled with curiosity as he looked in Rynn’s direction. She noticed the beast’s head turn toward her, and dove behind the rock, shivering with fear. While she hid, she heard a number of strange words in an unknown language spoken by the Yautja. The only two that she could make out with any sort of clarity were “Hult’ah”, “Thwei”, and “Mo burner”. After a little while, the words died out. She peered over the rock once more, and the Yautja were nowhere in sight. She took no notice of the 2 distortions in the air standing motionless by the entrance of the cave and the one hanging over her, not to mention the three red dots in triangle formation moving over her back slowly…

Naaro kept the cruiser up at full speed, now in the atmosphere and hoping that the interceptors on his tail lacked the capacity for atmospheric entry. They were still on him, however, and his rear shields were thin as paper from all the blows they had taken. A few more hits and he was gone…Naaro had been able to find no weapons on the cruiser, and could not dodge during entry. It was all over, it seemed…all over, that is, until he slammed his fists down on the panel in despair and frustration, revealing a secret panel with a large blue button on it, saying “Tail Seekers”. Naaro’s eyes lit up, and he thrust his finger down on the button. From the back of the ship, three large missiles were launched, each exploding into a plethora of smaller missiles which locked onto the Setg’-ins and blew them all to pieces, sending them spinning through the atmosphere and melting them with the combined heat. Naaro smirked, and his cruiser completed atmospheric entry, the autopilot taking over and flying a short trip to Rynn’s location. The smirk was quickly wiped off Naaro’s face, however, when he saw the crashed Ner’uda outside the cave.

The Yautja hanging from the ceiling scanned Rynn’s heat signature carefully. If this were a typical hunt, he would not kill her if he found her unarmed. However, this was a conquest, and all were to be killed. So he brought his targeting sight (the three red dots forming the shape of a triangle) up to the back of her head, and charged up his shoulder plasma caster…it was then that the two Yautja at the cave’s entrance hissed and revealed themselves. Rynn screamed, and moved back. Her fright was doubled as the plasma blast flew over her head and struck the rock she was hiding behind.

The angry Yautja on the roof landed and roared at his companions. The two pointed at him and shouted “Bad Blood!” With this, they extended their wristblades and tore into him, dropping him with their combined blow. He had been dishonorable in his manner of killing attempt, and he had paid for it.

The two turned to each other and communicated through a series of barks and chatters, then turned back to Rynn. The one on the left (from Rynn’s perspective) began moving menacingly toward her. She crawled backward frantically, Kai bawling in her arms. The Yautja growled in laughter, and raised his blade to strike the killing blow. It was then that his companion’s body struck him in the back, causing him to stumble forward clumsily. Naaro stood behind the two in post-swing position, Might and Light drawn, and the pupils missing from his eyes.

“S’yuit-de Yautja,” Naaro stated firmly in the language of the Yautja; his words meant, roughly, “Yautja scum.”

Rynn’s would-be killer turned and flared his mandibles in anger at Naaro.

“Pauk!!” the Yautja shouted, speaking one of the personal expletives of his people. He swung his wristblades at Naaro, who blocked them easily with his tonfers.

“Ki’cte!” Naaro shouted, speaking the Yautja word for “enough”, and he swung Might right into the Yautja’s groin.

The beast groaned, withdrew his wristblades, grabbed the wounded area, and dropped with a thump. Naaro smashed his heel into the Yautja’s stomach hard enough to bust through, grinding the creature’s internal organs to goo as it howled in the agony of its death. Rynn was shaking and speechless with fright, not being nearly as familiar with the Yautja as Naaro was. Naaro put away his tonfers, and kneeled beside her.

“Angel,” he whispered, trying to snap her out of her fear spell.

She jumped, and looked at him with wide eyes. It took a few seconds for his gentle smile to sink through the layers of fear encasing her, but when it did, she was brought back to normal.

“Naaro…” she muttered.

He continued to smile, and the two embraced. Kai was quiet and content, so he decided to catch a nap in Rynn’s arms, having screamed himself into exhaustion. Naaro and Rynn sat in embrace for several minutes, a peaceful silence enveloping them until Naaro lapsed back into the situation at hand and spoke.

“We have to get out of here,” he said, a distinct tone of seriousness in his voice.

“What about Yoshin?” Rynn asked, “What’s going to happen to everyone?”

Naaro sighed, and shook his head, unable to find words for what really was going to happen. He finally told her, “We can’t worry about it now. The Twilight Council has decided to collect all the Creation’s Weapons and absorb them to make themselves more powerful. We have to get the Weapons so they can’t accomplish their goal. Yoshin will be saved…I don’t know how, but it will be. Now, let’s get going…”

Rynn nodded, and got up. As the two exited the cave, Naaro’s senses caught a “whiff” of an intense energy inside the Ner’uda.

*Huh?* he thought to himself, wondering what could possibly be inside the cruiser.

He decided it would be a good idea to check it out. “Rynn, go over to the cruiser and start it up, I need to check the ship those Yautja came in,” he told her, and with that he headed toward the ship.

Rynn headed toward the cruiser to start it up, Kai sleeping peacefully in her arms.

Naaro stepped inside the hot, humid atmosphere of the Ner’uda's interior. As soon as he did, he actively sensed the energy, and followed his mental nose to its location. What he found was a pile of old junk collected from various Hunts made by these particular Yautja. He began to dig.

“Strange kazoo…nah,” Naaro remarked to himself as he tossed the object back into a new pile. “Can of Campbell’s soup…I don’t think so,” he muttered as he tossed a can of the soup onto the pile.

Several objects later, he came across a strange golden bottle resembling an extravagant perfume bottle with no spraying “appendages”. He shrugged, and tossed it back into the pile, continuing to dig. As the bottle hit the pile, the cap popped off, and a large column of fire erupted from the opening. Naaro tossed his body forward into the pile with great surprise, and whipped around as fast as he could. A small, spiritual form appeared in the fire, with two yellow eyes glowing like gold nuggets as they stared at Naaro.

“When will you people learn, I am NOT a piece of garbage!!!” the spirit cried out in rage.

Naaro’s eyes were wide. The fire died down, and left the red spirit floating there. It was about four feet from top to bottom, and wavelength-like ripples passed through its sides as it floated. It seemed to have no mouth, and apparently lacked any real bodily form.

“Who the hell are you?” Naaro managed to spout, frankly more annoyed with the spirit than he was terrified.

The spirit scoffed, and glowed white. “I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL BOTTLE IMP OF MALAKHARABA, JEWEL OF THE SENOLIAN SANDS AND CAPITOL OF PLANET HARGANYA!” it bellowed, with a voice that sounded half-demonic.

Naaro looked the thing over, the bellow seeming to have little effect on him, and remarked, “Might you be a Creation’s Weapon?”

The spirit returned to red, and looked at Naaro strangely. “Creation’s Weapon…yes, I believe I was called that once. What’s it to you?”

Naaro smiled, and gave the bottle imp a quick summary of what was going on.

The imp gave Naaro a nod as best it could, and said, “Well then, I suppose I shall go with you…I definitely don’t want be absorbed by anyone. My name is Jevil-Abil, or “Jewel Phantom” in your language. I am in the service of you ‘Spectrum’ people…or whatever.”

With that, Jevil-Abil returned to its bottle, and the cap floated over, closing the bottle under the imp’s power. Naaro picked up the bottle, and headed back to the cruiser. On the way, he introduced Rynn to Jevil-Abil, and, once he had returned to the Spectrum, introduced them to the bottle imp as well before handing it over to C.R. After their duties were done, Naaro, Rynn, and Kai returned to their room for a long, peaceful rest.